Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field Middle Childhood Education Lesson Plan Template v. 2 Teacher Candidate Name: Katie Jeter & Celena Otcasek Lesson Title: Voting Restrictions in a “Democratic” United States Grade Level: 8th Grade Lesson Foundations Content Standards ONLS 8.16: Cultural biases, stereotypes and prejudices had social, political and economic consequences for minority groups and the population as a whole. CCSS 6-­‐8.6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts). Learning Objective(s) LO 1: Students will interpret a sample literacy test from the Reconstruction Era to determine prejudices of policymakers at that time. LO 2: Students will compare the disenfranchisement of marginalized citizens after the introduction of the 15th Constitutional Amendment to current voter registration policies. Prior Academic Knowledge Students: and Skills Have knowledge of events leading up to the 15th Amendment (Civil War, Reconstruction, etc.) Have knowledge of 15th Amendment Materials & Resources “Buying American Elections” by Leticia Wiggins and Patrick Potyondy http://origins.osu.edu/historytalk/buying-­‐american-­‐elections Sample literacy tests (1 per student) PowToon slideshow https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/cOJnSUPfb6x/ss-methods-micro-teach/
“Mrs. Guilford...” video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBVjp_Z773Y Venn Diagram (1 per student) Exit tweet template (1 per student) Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field Assessments Description of assessment Modifications and accommodation to the Evaluation Criteria -­‐ What evidence of student learning assessment so that all students can demonstrate (identify learning objective(s) being assessed) does the their learning. assessment provide? A1: Check for Understanding Allow additional processing time for students when LO #1 Students will discuss current voting restrictions and answering in front of whole class. Walk around and why they think they may be put into place (i.e. racial speak to small groups of students during think-­‐pair-­‐ prejudices, policymakers own personal gain) share so not every group has to share aloud. A2: Literacy Test Read questions aloud to struggling readers and ESL LO #1 As students complete the literacy test, they will students. identify phrases and other details that complicate the tasks, thus highlighting possible biases by the test creator. A3: Venn Diagram Model filling out the Venn diagram for struggling LO #1 Students will compare past and current voting readers. restrictions (Policymakers in the Reconstruction Era used Having an electronic version that students can type their influence to restrict African-­‐Americans out of out for struggling writers and ESL students. elections through “literacy tests,” which is comparable to lobbyists and SuperPACs influencing elections today) A4: Exit Tweet Allow ESL students and struggling writers to type LO #1 For their exit tweet students will state something out or verbally give answer for exit tweet. they learned about voting restrictions (i.e. voting Sentence starters for struggling students. restrictions are still being used today they have just taken on a new form, voting restrictions are inherently biased) Instructional Procedures/Steps Teacher will… Opening ____10______ Minutes 1) Review agenda for the day 2) Introduce LO’s 3) Following the video, students will do a Think-­‐Pair-­‐Share 3) Show video (A1)(LO1) about their reaction. Discuss whether or not students were https://www.youtube.com/watch? surprised, what surprised them. Bring up racial prejudices, v=WBVjp_Z773Y policymakers with the power to forward personal agendas Were you surprised by the video? What surprised you the most? Why do you think these with influence (money). restrictions are in place? Is this constitutional? Why is it happening? Student will… Include instructional practices, questions you will ask, checks for What will students be doing? understanding, differentiation, evidence of culturally responsive teaching What evidence of learning will students demonstrate? practices Student-­‐centered learning/Opportunities for Practice and Apply Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field Instruction _____35_____ Minutes Procedures and steps to the lesson. 1) Distribute Literacy test (LO1) 1)
Mini-­‐lecture of original purpose of literacy test: literacy tests were designed to force prospective voters to prove their literacy (ability to read). White illiterate voters however, were allowed to vote due to the “grandfather clause” which allowed illiterate men to vote if their ancestors had the right to vote prior to the Civil War. Therefore this test was primarily used to deter minority races from voting. 2) Go over literacy test (A2)(LO1); as we grade, we will reflect and discuss aspects of the test that may reveal 2)
biases. Are the tasks themselves difficult? What makes the test challenging? Why would policymakers require something like this in order to vote? Does this accurately test a person’s literacy? Why or why not? Should all voters be “smart” enough to pass this test? What does this test reveal about bias? 3) Distribute Venn diagram (A3)(LO2). What aspects of elections were unique to the Reconstruction Era? 3)
What aspects are unique to current elections? What are some similarities? What could be considered today’s “literacy tests?” After listening to the lecture, students will have five minutes to attempt the test. 4) Lead group discussion about Venn diagram, fill one 4)
out on projector/ELMO/board (LO2). Ask students to share what they wrote down, mention some things that may have been brought up while students were working. Students will use the notes from their Venn diagram to contribute to class discussion. Reference Venn diagram, podcast, previous knowledge of Reconstruction era to highlight some similarities and differences between the past and present issues (i.e. voter identification). Students will highlight/circle phrases that they found difficult to interpret, contribute to class discussion. Redundant phrasing, irrelevant tasks, note the length of the test vs. the time allotted. Does not accurately assess literacy. Designed to be difficult, prevent people from voting. Biased against non-­‐white voters. Students will have ten minutes to work in partners to complete the Venn diagram, using notes from class and information from the podcast. Both sides attempt to control the outcomes of elections; Reconstruction required voters to be “literate,” Current lobbyists fund politicians with common personal and political agendas. Both sides restrict those who are allowed to vote according to the Constitution. Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field Closure _____5_____ Minutes Materials: 1) Debrief on day’s lesson 1) Students will discuss the future of voting restrictions. Do you think voting restrictions are fair or reflect democratic principals? Will there ever be a time where our country will not enforce them? What would have to be done to eliminate the inherent bias of voting restrictions? 2) Students will share something they learned: 2) Exit tweet (A4)(LO2) (i.e. voting restrictions are still being used today they What did you learn today about voting restrictions? have just taken on a new form, voting restrictions are inherently biased) Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field Middle Childhood Education Advanced Field